The Forgetting Song
by Gin-Ryu
Summary: Her mother sang it for Richi, but Richi doesn't remember, only Mika heard the lullaby often enough to know it by heart... She sings it again, now...But she never realized how much she'd already forgotten. Zukoxoc NOT a mary sue. Read and Review
1. Into Ba Sing Se

OK, this is NOT a Mary-sue. yay. This is, however, my first avatar fanfic, and yes, I know, I haven't updated any of my other stories in awhile but... I'm back! and I'll update soon. Please Read and review, HOWEVER flames will be saved and laughed at for years to come, so don't bother sending them. This does contain SokkaXSuki and AangXKatara but those appear a wee bit later on, and are only in the side plot. The main pairing is ZukoXoc.

Read on, and Enjoy.

**Into Ba Sing Se**

A curtain of unruly shoulder-length brown hair hung loosely to frame her face as she sat in the train station just inside of Ba Sing Se. Richi was asleep next her on the bench, his head was resting gently on her thigh.

He looked so peaceful, it be hard to imagine what he'd already been through in his first four years of life... He twitched and mumbled in his sleep, and she pulled a hand through his own black hair.. It was thick, like their fathers, but still soft as their mothers... Mika's was their mother's through and through though, thin, messy, and soft.

They'd had to spend the night in the station, because their ferry had arrived last, and though Richi had fallen asleep quickly, Mika had managed to stave off sleep the whole night.

"Hhhhnnnnmmmmnnnnnn." Richi grumbled as his sister's long-fingered hand shook him gently.

"Up and 'em Richi..." she murmured too quietly for anyone to hear, including Richi, and finally she coaxed him from his slumber.

"Is it morning already sis?" He asked with a yawn as he sat up and looked at the face of his living pillow.

To the little boy, his sister was one of the prettiest girls ever, but beauty is relative, isn't it?

And you also have to think about the fact that children can see more then just flesh when the look at those around them.

In all reality, Mika wasn't beautiful, or even pretty... But she wasn't ugly either.

She had plain, pale skin, and eyes that were a boring shade of brown that was reminiscent of dirt. She was thin but stalky, and a bad habit of holding her head down.

"Yeah..." She whispered to him as she stood and picked up the small bag that held both their belongings, and chose a compartment to go into.

She knew how she'd get money, though, and looks weren't needed.

"Bad dream?" She whispered to him as the half empty train started, the earth benders who ran it were eager to start the day, and she was glad they'd gotten on in time.

"No." Richi said defensively as he sat beside his sister kicking his legs impatiently.

She lapsed into silence once more as her brother looked at the world flitting by outside, both thinking.

She played absently with the tall, tight collar of her short sleeved black frog-button shirt, and kicked her own legs in a sorry imitation of youth.

Who would believe this girl, already taking care of a young child as well as herself, was only fifteen?

"I'll find work first..." She muttered quietly for Richi to hear, "And we'll find a place to stay..."

"And I can help." Richi said and a painful-looking smile turned to corners of Mika's mouth.

How selfless is a child's innocence!

"Yeah..." She remembered to say as she stretched out a little and looked at the roof... Until finally, she got so deep in thought, that the thought turned to sleep, and she woke in the compartment and immediately she was empty, eyes wide, as she stared around.

"Richi!" she wanted to scream, "Richi Where are you?!" she wanted to scream it as loud as she could! But she couldn't, so instead she leapt from the compartment at a run and barreled down a street haphazardly.

'Richi!" It was a scratching whisper as she tried to shout, "Richi! Richi!"

"I'm glad I found you. The market is no place for a young boy to be alone." Iroh said as he lead Richi to the small rundown place he and Zuko were calling home at the moment.

"But I was only gonna be alone a second... My sister-...oops... Uncle Mushi?" Iroh smiled at the Richi as Richi's hazel eyes grew round.

"Yes?"

"I left my sister... On that platform..."

"Who are you talking to uncle?" asked Zuko in his usual tone as he opened the door and looked at Iroh, and then Richi.

Zuko's cold voice made the hairs on the back of Richi's neck stand up as he dryly asked, "Who's he?"

The train left once more from the Ba Sing Se station to return back to the outer wall, and with it when the bag that held everything Richi and Mika owned.

But to Mika, who was still driven by sheer animalistic panic, it was the farthest thing from her mind... And it just kept getting farther and farther away.

Please Review.

OK, this is NOT a Mary-sue. yay. This is, however, my first avatar fanfic, and yes, I know, I haven't updated any of my other stories in awhile but... I'm back! and I'll update soon. Please Read and review, HOWEVER flames will be saved and laughed at for years to come, so don't bother sending them. This does contain SokkaXSuki and AangXKatara but those appear a wee bit later on, and are only in the side plot. The main pairing is ZukoXoc.

Read on, and Enjoy.

**Into Ba Sing Se**

A curtain of unruly shoulder-length brown hair hung loosely to frame her face as she sat in the train station just inside of Ba Sing Se. Richi was asleep next her on the bench, his head was resting gently on her thigh.

He looked so peaceful, it be hard to imagine what he'd already been through in his first four years of life... He twitched and mumbled in his sleep, and she pulled a hand through his own black hair.. It was thick, like their fathers, but still soft as their mothers... Mika's was their mother's through and through though, thin, messy, and soft.

They'd had to spend the night in the station, because their ferry had arrived last, and though Richi had fallen asleep quickly, Mika had managed to stave off sleep the whole night.

"Hhhhnnnnmmmmnnnnnn." Richi grumbled as his sister's long-fingered hand shook him gently.

"Up and 'em Richi..." she murmured too quietly for anyone to hear, including Richi, and finally she coaxed him from his slumber.

"Is it morning already sis?" He asked with a yawn as he sat up and looked at the face of his living pillow.

To the little boy, his sister was one of the prettiest girls ever, but beauty is relative, isn't it?

And you also have to think about the fact that children can see more then just flesh when the look at those around them.

In all reality, Mika wasn't beautiful, or even pretty... But she wasn't ugly either.

She had plain, pale skin, and eyes that were a boring shade of brown that was reminiscent of dirt. She was thin but stalky, and a bad habit of holding her head down.

"Yeah..." She whispered to him as she stood and picked up the small bag that held both their belongings, and chose a compartment to go into.

She knew how she'd get money, though, and looks weren't needed.

"Bad dream?" She whispered to him as the half empty train started, the earth benders who ran it were eager to start the day, and she was glad they'd gotten on in time.

"No." Richi said defensively as he sat beside his sister kicking his legs impatiently.

She lapsed into silence once more as her brother looked at the world flitting by outside, both thinking.

She played absently with the tall, tight collar of her short sleeved black frog-button shirt, and kicked her own legs in a sorry imitation of youth.

Who would believe this girl, already taking care of a young child as well as herself, was only fifteen?

"I'll find work first..." She muttered quietly for Richi to hear, "And we'll find a place to stay..."

"And I can help." Richi said and a painful-looking smile turned to corners of Mika's mouth.

How selfless is a child's innocence!

"Yeah..." She remembered to say as she stretched out a little and looked at the roof... Until finally, she got so deep in thought, that the thought turned to sleep, and she woke in the compartment and immediately she was empty, eyes wide, as she stared around.

"Richi!" she wanted to scream, "Richi Where are you?!" she wanted to scream it as loud as she could! But she couldn't, so instead she leapt from the compartment at a run and barreled down a street haphazardly.

'Richi!" It was a scratching whisper as she tried to shout, "Richi! Richi!"

"I'm glad I found you. The market is no place for a young boy to be alone." Iroh said as he lead Richi to the small rundown place he and Zuko were calling home at the moment.

"But I was only gonna be alone a second... My sister-...oops... Uncle Mushi?" Iroh smiled at the Richi as Richi's hazel eyes grew round.

"Yes?"

"I left my sister... On that platform..."

"Who are you talking to uncle?" asked Zuko in his usual tone as he opened the door and looked at Iroh, and then Richi.

Zuko's cold voice made the hairs on the back of Richi's neck stand up as he dryly asked, "Who's he?"

The train left once more from the Ba Sing Se station to return back to the outer wall, and with it when the bag that held everything Richi and Mika owned.

But to Mika, who was still driven by sheer animalistic panic, it was the farthest thing from her mind... And it just kept getting farther and farther away.

Please Review.


	2. Reunited and Housed

Thanks for all the wonderful Reviews, enjoy this chapter!

_**Reunited and Housed **_

Mika ran, and she kept running as fast as she could, down alleys and through startled crowds...

"Richi!" she rasped for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Little brother!.."

"Well what does your sister look like?" Iroh asked the little boy in front of him.

"She's... ummm... she got... brown hair... and brown eyes."

"Well that narrows it own." Zuko said exasparatedly, his patience was already ranging from low to nonexistent... He never had liked children.

"She's wearing black because we just came from-... Sister!"

In her fit of hysterics she darted straight through a crossroads in front of wear Zuko and Iroh lived, but she was going farther away. The yell from her brother wrapped around her like a raging serpent and dragged her backwards to him at a jog.

"It has to be him..." she thought, she'd been searching for only about ten minutes, but it felt more like ten hours... And sure enough as she backtracked, she saw Richi standing in front of a rundown looking apartment complex, (I'm not sure, what would you call it? Sorry for the brief interruption), with an old man and a faceless figure in a doorway.

She didn't just run, she practically flew to Richi.

She hugged him silently, holding onto him tightly as he whispered into his ear, her already small voice sounding as if it might give out at any second. "Are you ok?"

"Of course! This is Mushi, but he says I can call him Uncle Mushi-"

"And this is my nephew Lee." Iroh cut it, still smiling, and Mika acknowledged him with a small inclination of the head and then a look at Zuko.

She picked Richi up and held him on her hip, and whispered in his ear behind a cupped hand, "He doesn't look like a Lee, does he?"

"She says you don't look like a Lee." Richi said smiling at Zuko, who merely scowled more, though the child's statement made him uneasy, and trudged back inside with a scowl etched on his features.

"My nephew is right, lets not stand here out in the cold. Please, come in." Iroh said with kind smile as he gestured to the open door.

Mika was edgy about these men... There was something hanging thick in the air that made her lungs heavy and her stomach churn in worry. Richi smiled at the old man, and though she felt her own instinct pulling her the other way, she whispered again to Richi, "Tell him we'll stay, and tell him if I had more of a voice then I'd thank him myself, and tell him we can't pay in money but I'll be happy to work."

"Sister says that we'll stay, which is good because I'm REALLY tired... and she also says thank you, and that... wait what was that last part sister?"

"I'll work for you." she spoke in her small whisper of a voice that was hoarse from her earlier calls, and she walked in past Iroh, and though Richi was quick to bound off and look for Zuko, Mika held back and bowed low to Iroh.

"You know what? I bet some tea could help you with that throat. Tell me what kind you'd like, and I'll make some." Mika was nervous as she looked after Richi, Iroh's words falling on deaf ears as she watched him disappear from sight with a pained expression.

"My nephew will take care of him." Iroh said as if reading Mika's mind, when really it was the nervous look on her face that gave her away. "Now how about that tea?"

Mika looked at Iroh, and then on impulse for Richi... But at remembering he was gone, she choked out with one of those painful smiles, "J-Jasmine would be n-nice..."

"Jasmine tea is my favorite!" Iroh said as he walked into a small kitchen-like room, and Mika followed still jittery and paranoid.

"Hi!" Richi said brightly as he appeared in Zuko's doorway.

Zuko ignored him completely, looking at the half-made fan on his table. He'd gotten the idea a short while before... Perhaps if he made good ones, he could sell some sort of artisan craft and make more money for he and his uncle... It wasn't working out too well.

This was the third fan in his attempt, the other two having been reduced to ash in a fit of frustrated rage.

He didn't know what to paint on this particular one, and so it lay white and bare as he regarded it... His patience was thinning as the artist's block kept him from drawing anything at all.

Richi skipped in, right up to the desk to stand on his tip-toes and stare at the plain white fan.

"What do you want?" Zuko finally asked, turning to the child who'd abandon his post beside Zuko and taken to staring interestedly at his broad-swords... Lucky for Zuko, Richi was well trained, and knew to not touch anything.

"So where are you from?" Iroh asked as he poured some tea for Mika, watching her as she held her head low so that her brown hair hid her face.

"Everywhere and Nowhere." Mika whispered back to him as she looked up and reached out with a long arm to take the cup and sip it.

"A refugee, hmm? Well I understand that,, but where are your parents?" Iroh knew that Mika, like Zuko, was sold enough to take care of herself... But Richi?

"Gone."

"Ohh..." Iroh spoke, knowing to press anything as he sipped his own tea. The awkward silence seemed to last a lifetime and a half, but Iroh had the courtesy to break it.

"This is some good tea, hm?" He smiled as he spoke, taking another drink as Mika smiled her own painful smile in return.

"Perfect."

"I doubt its perfect, but it is pretty good... You shouldn't hold her head down like that, a pretty girl like you should hold her head up high for everyone to see." Iroh pressed. Mika laughed, she really did, but it sounded like a dry cough as she looked up at her through long thin bangs. Her plain brown eyes dull as she said, her whisper a bit less hoarse but still scratchy...

"Pretty? No..."

"Pretty is an opinion, Mika... It is Mika right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Mika, as I said, Pretty is an opinion, and I think you're very pretty."

"You're-" She coughed, it was rare for her to talk so much so loudly... To her, in order to gain this whisper, it felt like shouting, which is why she usually let Richi speak for her.

"You're very kind..." She finished finally as she smiled at him before a loud clatter came from upstairs. Iroh, who was pouring more tea, spilled some on the floor as he looked up to see Mika at her feet instantly, eyes wide as she stared upstairs, her heart beating in her ears.

But then she heard Richi laugh, and she sat down again, breathing hard and looking at Iroh. He didn't speak, he just poured more tea for her.

**_Read and Review! Christmas cookies for you all!_** (If you think about it, it's kind of comical... Niether has noticed that thier stuff is gone yet!)


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